Tech Brew Ride Home

Not too long ago I did a longreads suggestion about Huawei and listener Dexter Thillien got in touch, because he’s a telecoms analyst, and he was actually quoted in the article. Over email, he educated me about some of my misconceptions about Huawei and I was like, “Don’t just school me! Come on the podcast and let’s catch everyone on up Huawei!” And so, today, we do that. Where did Huawei come from? How did it get to a place where it’s the pre-eminent 5G infrastructure firm? Is Huawei just a tool of the Chinese government. I do apologize for the somewhat poor Skype connection, but the content here is so good, you won’t even notice. My thanks to Dexter Thillien. Sponsor: Everykey.com, promo code RIDE20 to get 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Mai 201929min

I knew Uber was going public this week, and it occurred to me that since this podcast started, my default position has been: Uber: super cool company, but a lot of people have a lot of doubts about them. But I realized, I had never explained that, or gone into detail about WHY people feel that way… unlike how we’ve done with other things. So, I reached out to Shira Ovide at Bloomberg, not to talk trash about Uber, but to… let’s say… get the skeptic’s take about Uber’s business model— which is the ride hailing business model, in a way, which is also the sharing economy business model in a way—so, in that vein, we also talk about WeWork a bit too (which people are also skeptical of). Sponsors: Eero.com/ride promocode RIDE at checkout Sonic.com/ride Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11 Mai 201924min

Uber’s big IPO had some issues, smartphone shipments are at a 5 year low, do you need an app for unsubscribing to things and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: MacStadium.com/ridehome Metalab.co Links: Uber Jackpot: Inside One of the Greatest Startup Investments of All Time (WSJ) Americans Have So Many Subscriptions They Need Apps to Track and Cancel Them (Bloomberg) Blue Origin: Bezos company aims to take people to moon by 2024 (The Guardian) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How Much Is an Idea Worth? In Uber’s Case, $3.7 Billion (Bloomberg) The VC Who Engineered the 2017 Uber CEO Coup Just Got Very Rich (Bloomberg) The dangers of in-game data collection (Polygon) How Unions Are Pushing Back Against the Rise of Workplace Technology (Fortune) Three years in, Google’s hardware honcho is just getting started (FastCompany) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Mai 201917min

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes says it’s time to break up Facebook, more developer details from I/O, Uber has an arbitration problem, shoe tech is real, and get ready for 64 megapixel smartphone cameras. Sponsors: Wix.com/podcast Metalab.co Links: It’s Time to Break Up Facebook (Chris Hughes/NYTimes) Google is testing Mini-apps in Search and Google Assistant (VentureBeat) Google to allow users to pay for Android apps using cash (TechCrunch) Uber’s Arbitration Addiction Could Be Death by 60,000 Cuts (Bloomberg) Sick of Getting Returned Sneakers, Nike Tries a New Sizing App (Bloomberg) The story of the Brannock Device World’s fastest supercomputer will be built by AMD and Cray for US government (The Verge) 64-megapixel phone cameras are coming (The Verge) Fortnite is free, but kids are getting bullied into spending money (Polygon) Subscribe to the ad-free premium feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Mai 201916min

Google is talking big on privacy, but going after cookies helps their bottom line as well, why the Pixel 3a might usher in a new era of flagship “lite” phones, the huge Binance bitcoin hack and why does Bird want to sell you a scooter, not just rent you one? Sponsors: Metalab.co Vistaprint.com/RIDE Links: Google strengthens Chrome's privacy controls (TechCrunch) Facebook talked privacy, Google actually built it (TechCrunch) US digital advertising exceeded $100 billion in 2019 (TechCrunch) Google shows Apple and Samsung how ‘lite’ flagships are done (Engadget) Apple should bring back the iPhone SE and model it after Google’s Pixel 3a (MacWorld) Bird has a new electric scooter: it’s durable, comes in three different colors, and you can buy it (The Verge) DIY Artists Will Earn More than $1 Billion This Year. No Wonder the Major Labels Want Their Business (Rolling Stone) Subscribe to the ad-free feed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Mai 201916min

All the news that I could possibly grab from Google’s I/O keynote, again, Alexa IS spying on you, Cruise Automation raises a big round... and will we ever actually see the Galaxy Fold? Sponsors: Lightstream.com/ride Metalab.co Links: THE PIXEL 3A PUTS GOOGLE’S PHENOMENAL CAMERA IN A $400 PHONE (The Verge) Alexa has been eavesdropping on you this whole time (The Washington Post) Check your Alexa recording archive here Study: Voice Assistants Far From Hot Marketplace For Buying (MediaPost) GM’s self-driving division Cruise raises another $1.15 billion (The Verge) How Chinese Spies Got the N.S.A.’s Hacking Tools, and Used Them for Attacks (NYTimes) Samsung Electronics says no anticipated shipping date yet for Galaxy Fold (Reuters) Subscribe to the Premium Ad-Free Feed right here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Mai 201916min

All the announcements from Microsoft’s Build 2019, Mozilla fixes the Firefox snafu, we think, a grab-bag of Apple rumors and why Netflix’s competitive resiliency might be here to stay. Sponsors: Legacybox.com/ride Metalab.co Links Microsoft's IntelliCode for AI-assisted coding comes out of preview (TechCrunch) Microsoft aims to modernize and secure voting with ElectionGuard (TechCrunch) Add-ons disabled or failing to install in Firefox (Mozilla Add-ons Blog) Amazon can already ship to 72% of US population within a day, this map shows (CNBC) Brussels poised to probe Apple over Spotify’s fees complaint (Financial Times) Netflix's Competitive Resiliency Is Here to Stay (Netflix Misunderstandings, Pt. 7) (Redef) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Mai 201918min

This Facebook cryptocurrency is real, people, Microsoft has a blockchain product as well, Verizon is looking to unload Tumblr, Softbank is considering an IPO for the vision fund and, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: PixelUnion.net Instacart. Promocode RIDE at checkout. Links: Facebook Building Cryptocurrency-Based Payments System (WSJ) Project Libra: Facebook to launch stablecoin-based payments network (The Block) Report: Facebook looking to disrupt credit cards with cryptocurrency (ArsTechnica) Microsoft adds more AI, mixed-reality, IoT services to its Azure line-up (ZDNet) Microsoft launches a fully managed blockchain service (TechCrunch) Verizon Looks to Unload Tumblr Blogging Site (WSJ) SoftBank Considers IPO for $100 Billion Vision Fund (WSJ) Sonic’s live-action design upset the entire internet, so the studio is changing it (The Verge) The Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The making of Amazon Prime, the internet’s most successful and devastating membership program (ReCode) The search for the kryptonite that can stop CRISPR (MIT Technology Review) The Most Valuable Company (for Now) Is Having a Nadellaissance (Bloomberg Businessweek) Software, the Tough Tomato Principle, and the Great Weirdening of the World (Florent Crivello) The productivity pit: how Slack is ruining work (ReCode) Exclusive: The Saga Of 'Star Citizen,' A Video Game That Raised $300 Million—But May Never Be Ready To Play (Forbes) Support the show! Lose the ads! Subscribe to the premium feed RIGHT HERE in your podcast app with 3 taps! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Mai 201918min